No. 1 Buckeyes roll to 37-17 win over Penn St.

STATE COLLEGE — The Buckeyes didn’t seem to mind the noise and shenanigans of the 110,134 fans at Beaver Stadium, and they certainly weren’t bothered by the Penn State defense.

Converting on third down at will all game, No. 1 Ohio State ran for 200 yards, threw for 253 more and didn’t punt as it sent the 24th-ranked Nittany Lions to a 37-17 loss in front of the second-largest crowd in Penn State history on Saturday.

“We couldn’t stop them,” Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. “That’s a good football team and they played really well.”

The Buckeyes were faced with a do-or-punt situation 16 times, but they converted on sneaks, short runs and 16-yard touchdown passes 12 times, an astounding conversion rate that kept the punt team on the sideline and Penn State’s defense on the field.

The Nittany Lions, who were giving up an average of 279.5 yards, missed tackles, blew coverages and got little pressure on Buckeyes quarterback Todd Boeckman, who was 19-for-26 for 253 yards and three touchdowns. His favorite target was Brian Hartline, who abused cornerback Lydell Sargeant for four catches, 69 yards and a touchdown.

Chris Wells slipped and powered his way past a Penn State defense that was only giving up 79.5 yards on the ground, rushing for 137 yards on 25 carries.

Ohio State trailed just once, going down 7-3 after Penn State responded to the Buckeyes’ opening field goal with a 9-play, 78-yard touchdown drive. Rodney Kinlaw, who ran for 85 yards on 14 carries, scored on a 2-yard plunge.

Ohio State answered with back-to-back scoring drives, Boeckman hitting Brian Robiskie for a 9-yard touchdown and Hartline for that 16-yard score on third-and-13.

The Nittany Lions’ best chance to get back in the game came late in the second quarter, when they drove into Ohio State territory. Facing a fourth-and-two from the Buckeyes’ 38 with under two minutes to go in the half, Paterno decided to punt rather than risk giving Ohio State another chance at the sieve previously known as the Penn State defense.

“We weren’t playing that good defense, and I knew we were going to get the ball back to start the second half,” Paterno said. “I thought about going to go for it, but I knew they were going to kick off to us. I thought if we went in 17-7 we still had a good shot at it.”

No. 1 Ohio State came into Happy Valley on Saturday as one of only four undefeated teams in the top 25 and left as at least that. No. 7 Arizona State (7-0) played No. 21 California late Saturday night on the West coast, while No. 16 Hawaii (7-0) was set to play today. No. 2 Boston College beat No. 8 Virginia Tech on Thursday.